Fixtures: Wednesday, May 2: SFL v Carrickmacross (Home) at 7.30pm
Thursday, May 3: Under-14 FL Division Five v Scotstown (Home) at 7pm; Development HL v Carrickmacross (Away) at 7.30pm
Friday, May 4: O’Duffy Cup v Doohamlet (Away) at 7.15pm
Sunday, May 6: Under-14 HC Final at 12pm (see elsewhere for full details); MHL Truagh Harps v Clontibret (Away) at 12pm
Tuesday, May 8: MFL Division One v Castleblayney (Home) at 7.30pm
Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 2, 9, 11 and 15. Jackpot of €5,050 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Jim Mullaney c/o Neill McGinn; €40 Claire Bourke c/o Maria McKenna; €40 Shay & Caolán Hennessy c/o Noel Hennessy; €40 Ivan Maxwell c/o Paddy Donnelly. Jackpot for Sunday, May 6 is €5,200 and Ann and Kevin Treanor are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome.
Seniors: The senior footballers drew with Currin last Wednesday, before losing to league leaders Ballybay on Sunday. The lads got off to a good start at home to Currin, with three early points from Liam Hahessy, Paul Rushe and Neil McAdam, but Currin hit the next three to draw level. Shane Smyth and Neil added to our tally before half-time to leave it level at 0-5 apiece. Despite points from Paddy Connolly and Donal Hahessy, we found ourselves two behind late on and needed two converted frees from Donal to take a draw on a scoreline of 0-9 each.
Team and scorers: Mark Hughes; Niall McKenna, David Hughes, Paul Rushe (0-1); Gareth Treanor, Conor Galligan, Shane Coyle; Peter Coyle, Neil McAdam (Capt., 0-2, 1f); Gary White, Donal Hahessy (0-3f), Paddy Connolly (0-1); Liam Hahessy (0-1), Shane Smyth (0-1), Emmett McArdle.
Subs: Dean Fanning for L Hahessy (44 mins), Nicholas Scott for McArdle (49), David Loughran for D Hughes (inj., 58).
The lads then travelled to Ballybay on Sunday and once again started brightly, with points from Shane Smyth, David Loughran and Nicholas Scott and a goal by Donal Hahessy giving us a 1-3 to 0-1 lead with the wind at our backs. We were unable to build on that, however, as Ballybay found the net twice before half-time and our only other score was a Donal Hahessy free, leaving us trailing by 1-4 to 2-2. We gave away a soft goal early in the second half and although Nicholas Treanor (two), Neil McAdam, Gary White and Donal kicked points, it wasn’t enough, as Ballybay’s fourth major led them to a 4-6 to 1-9 victory.
Team and scorers: Mark Hughes; Gareth Treanor, David Hughes, Paul Rushe; Shane Coyle, Conor Galligan, Nicholas Scott (0-1); Peter Coyle, Neil McAdam (Capt., 0-1); Gary White (0-1), Nicholas Treanor (0-2f), Paddy Connolly; David Loughran (0-1), Shane Smyth (0-1), Donal Hahessy (1-2, 0-2f).
Subs: Liam Hahessy for Loughran (42 mins), Dean Fanning for Connolly (47), Niall Greenan for N Treanor (56).
The seniors have a home game against Carrickmacross tomorrow night (Wednesday). Please support. If you can’t make it, there will be updates on the club’s twitter page @MonaghanHarps.
Reserves: The Crawley Cup team were knocked out of the championship with a home defeat against Éire Óg last Friday. Despite not playing to our potential in the first half, we trailed by just two points at the interval (0-7 to 0-5), with Dessie McGarry and Bernard Murphy converting frees and Niall Greenan on target from play. Donal Cuddy got our first point of the second half, but Éire Óg reeled off a string of points to take charge. We got a late goal through Thomas Keelaghan, but it was only a consolation score as it finished 0-15 to 1-7.
Team: Jimmy Croarkin; Fionntán Cassidy, Niall Brannigan, Darren McMahon; Donal Cuddy, Johnny Sherry, Séamus Brannigan (Capt.); John McCoy, Robbie Moyna; Gary Murray, Mark Mulhall, Niall Greenan; Dessie McGarry, Bernard Murphy, Colm Shalvey.
Subs: Lorcan McAdam for N Brannigan, Thomas Keelaghan for Shalvey, Adam Cullen for Cuddy, Finnian McKenna for McGarry, Pat Murphy for Cassidy.
The O’Duffy Cup team are away to Éire Óg in the first round of the championship this Friday at 7.15. All support welcome.
Minors: The minor footballers lost to Carrickmacross last Tuesday on a scoreline of 1-15 to 2-6. This Monday, the lads travelled to Scotstown for their rearranged match and were unfortunate to leave empty-handed after an improved performance. The teams swapped points four times in the opening quarter, with Shane Loughran, Michael Galligan, Fearghal McMahon and Evan Doherty on target for our lads. Points by Fearghal (two) and Evan gave the Harps a three-point lead, but Scotstown hit back with a goal and a point to edge ahead. Another point from Fearghal kept us in touch, however, and Conor Forde found the net right on half-time to send us in with a 1-8 to 1-7 advantage. Scotstown hit the first two points of the second half, but scores from Shane (two) and Fearghal closed the gap to one. Fearghal converted a couple of frees to keep the difference down to the minimum late on, but despite making chances, our lads were unable to find an equaliser. The minors’ next match is at home to Castleblayney next Tuesday (May 8).
Team and scorers (v Scotstown): Ryan Shields; Turlough Clerkin, Pauric Murphy, Mustafa Admed, Michael Galligan (0-1), Carl Foentjies; Evan Doherty (0-2), Niall Treanor; Brendan McQuaid (Capt.), Paul Byrne, Conor Forde (1-0); Jason McHugh, Shane Loughran (0-3, 1f), Fearghal McMahon (0-7, 3f).
U-16: The Under-16 footballers lost out to Scotstown despite putting in an improved performance at Gavan Duffy Park last Thursday. The final score was 2-10 to 0-11. Next up is an away game against Emyvale next Thursday (May 10).
U-14: Our Under-14 Division Five team have a home game against Scotstown this Thursday at 7pm. The Under-14 Hurling Championship Final against the winners of Tuesday’s second semi-final between Castleblayney and Inniskeen will be played at 12 noon on Sunday. Check club website/twitter for venue.
U-12: Both Under-12 Teams suffered defeats last Saturday away to Truagh and Tyholland. The first team came up against a strong Truagh team – winners of last year’s Coyle Cup. Our best plays came when the team moved the ball quickly out of defence, with some good passing into the forwards and some well-taken scores from our top scorer on the day Shane McCabe. 10 scores to six at half-time was a fair reflection of the strength of Truagh. A rearrangement in defence and midfield for the second half saw some improvement in the Harps and strong performances in this half around midfield from Colin and Seán, along with tight defending from Stephen, helped keep a rampant Truagh a little quieter. Team: Dáire, Adam, Colin, Sean, Stephen, Oisín (0-1), Dylan, Killian C (0-1), Conor (1-1), Corey (0-2), Shane (1-3), Lorcan, Killian McA. The second team played some good football also, with fine performances on the day from Lochlainn, Ógie and Hubert, but a good Tyholland side held the edge as they ended our unbeaten run. There will still be plenty of action for both our Under-12 teams this year, with the Spring League Finals in Cloghan next on the agenda.
Good luck: To our own Brendan McQuaid, Conor O’Neill and team trainer Alan Ryan in the Ulster Minor Hurling Shield Final against Fermanagh in Clones tomorrow (Wednesday).
Pitches: We would like to ask all club members, mentors and players to remember to take good care of the pitches now that they are in high demand. Team managers are asked to note that the floodlights should not be used between May 1 and September 1 to make use of the extra daylight and that pitch bookings must go through Jimmy Croarkin at 087 1249635.
Referees/Umpires: Anyone interested in helping our club referee Hugh McKenna by umpiring at club matches is asked to contact Hugh or any committee member. Also, we encourage anyone who wants to follow in Hugh’s footsteps by taking up the whistle to get in touch.
Old Gavan Duffy photos: If anyone has any photos of the last senior men’s game at the old Gavan Duffy Park in Latlurcan against Burren in 1992, please contact any committee member.
Aido file: Congratulations to our Under-14 hurlers who have made the Féile final for a second year running following their win over Truagh. Monday’s game saw plenty of goals with our top marksmen including Conor Doyle, Niall Ward, Andrew Connolly, Seán McKenna and Cillian Sherry. The final is scheduled for bank holiday Sunday at 12 with an opposition or venue TBC at time of print. Best of luck in the final lads and we’ll all be there to cheer you on. Our seniors face Carrickmacross away tonight in the development league with the season going well so far recording three wins from four. Hard luck to our hurlers from Gaelscoil Ultain, who lost the Cumann na mBunscol final by four points.
Talk Sport for Shauna: A sports talk night will take place in the Hillgrove Hotel this Sunday, May 6, featuring top personalities in various codes, including Páraic Duffy, Jarlath Burns and Joe Brolly. This event is to raise badly-needed funds for the treatment of a Scotstown girl, Shauna McPhillips, who has Rett syndrome and needs 24/7 care. Get in touch with Lorcan McAdam if you want to buy a ticket or help out on the night
By michael Tue 1st May
